A new family has been attending our church. Mom, Dad and four really sweet kids under the age of nine.
Dad’s in the construction industry, which, in Las Vegas, is contracting not expanding. He was laid off and since he’s fairly new with the local union, his ‘go back to work’ number is high. Meaning he probably won’t be called back anytime soon.
Not long after that, Mom found out she’s pregnant. With triplets. Natural triplets—no fertility drugs.
So our church has taken turns bringing food, cleaning, caring for the four kids so Mom can stay off her feet.
It was my turn on Tuesday. But I needed to do this economically because we found out this week that my husband was laid off too!
The local Hispanic supermarket is a treasure trove of good deals. As I looked at the meat section, I saw chicken drumsticks for .69 a lb. These I marinated in lime juice, chopped garlic and Worcestershire. Then I put them on the grill and when they were almost done, started basting them with the remainder of a bottle of Teriyaki sauce that was hanging around the refrigerator.
I found bags of baby lettuces on sale at another supermarket for .99 each, a big bag of frozen French fries for 2.49, a loaf of fresh French bread for $1.69 and ½ gallon of Breyers ice cream on sale for $2.00.
To turn the bread into garlic bread, I melted about ¼ cup of butter and ½ cup of olive oil over low heat, added 8 cloves of chopped garlic, paprika, salt and a little cayenne pepper. This was heated low and slow until the garlic was sweet and lost it’s bite. Here’s what it looks like:
For dessert ( besides the ice cream) I used a chocolate cake mix that I already had, mixed it according to the package directions and added a couple of handfuls of chocolate chips and 1/3 cup of sour cream. It baked for an hour at 325 in a bundt pan. After it cooled, I made a quick ganache (chocolate chips and heavy cream melted over low heat) and drizzled that over the top.
As we drove the dinner over to their house, we were thankful that even in the midst of our own problems—there’s still a way to share with others.
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